ST. JOHN’S, N.L. This week, local Canadian Army units will be conducting live-fire warfare drills and essential cold-weather survival training at the Cambrai Rifle Range in Makinsons.
Lt. Col. Kyle Strong, commanding officers of the 1st Battalion Royal Newfoundland Regiment said that Exercise Maroon Solitude East 2022 involves soldiers both from the regiment and other units of the 37 Canadian Brigade Group including 37 Signals Regiment, 37 Combat Engineer Regiment, 37 Signals Regiment, 37 Service Battalion, and 35 Field Ambulance.
Participation is expected to include up to 100 soldiers
Strong stated that the original plan was for training to be held at Goose Bay, Labrador with other Atlantic Canadian units, as part of a larger exercise. However, units decided to conduct training in their own areas due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Strong stated that all units in the St. Johns area decided to train on the Avalon to meet the same requirements and training as we did in Goose Bay. Training events will focus on winter survival skills, such as how to build an improvised shelter using snow and what’s around you, how can you navigate in the winter, how best to set up arctic tent positions, and how to move tactically and safely in a winter environment. Your tent, water, ammunition, snow shovels and other supplies are all included in the toboggan. Also, we will be doing ice training to help soldiers understand what happens if they go through the ice. This training is being provided by experts in winter warfare and cold-weather survival.
Strong stated that the soldiers were focusing on building a defensive position. He said they had used chainsaws to cut wood and to build a barrier with snow and ice to protect a trench.
Later in the week, we will take these snow defenses that were allowed to harden and fire live rounds at them from various weapons systems. This will give soldiers an idea of how effective these defences are against modern weapons.
The exercises were led by Maj. Dustin Sutherland, who was also the planner. They had to be scaled back and modified from the original Goose Bay operation. The majority of soldiers participating are reserve soldiers. This means that they will need to take time off from school or work to take part. There could be a fluctuation in the number of participants from day to day.
(COVID-19), however, was a bit challenging because we had the task of coming up with ways to minimize exposure to cross-contamination. So we had the task of planning to keep everyone in their respective groups throughout. This is difficult when considering the part time nature of the reserves, Sutherland stated. We used this opportunity to change the dates during the midterm break period to make it possible for university students. Unfortunately, some civilian employees may not have been able get leave. Although we expected that this would have an effect on numbers, we still expect up to 100 troops will be able to leave.
Strong stated that it was crucial for Canada’s military to be able and able to operate in cold-weather environments and to acquire key skills such as how weapons systems work, how to maneuver troops and equipment, and how to survive in arctic, sub-arctic, and other extreme conditions.
He stated that the amount of effort required to sustain operations and survival in cold-weather environments is at least twice as high. It is crucial that soldiers understand the effort required to survive and operate in cold-weather environments, especially in Canada where half our year will be spent in such conditions.
Sutherland stated another important aspect to the training is that different units get to work together and learn new and diverse skills that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to use in their own trades.
Sutherland explained that when operating in cold weather environments, the pace must slow down as you cannot risk overheating or overworking. Although we are experiencing milder temperatures than usual in February, we still need to simulate what it would be like to train in the high north or sub-arctic. The pace slows down and soldiers should appreciate that, rather than training in the summer or fall.
We must be able defend Canada. Canada includes far-northern regions. Therefore, our soldiers need to be able and willing to deploy within Canada as well as expeditiously to other countries for any operation. If necessary, we will also be available to deploy to northern communities to support and assist the local authorities.
